1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image processing systems, and, more particularly, to such systems including a computer coupled with multiple scanners.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer peripheral equipment provides various desired functionality to an attached computer, such as faxing, scanning, printing, copying, etc. To save space, cost, etc., it has become more common to include multiple functions in a single peripheral device. These are often referred to as multi-function machines (MFM) or all-in-one machines (AIO), which terms are used interchangeably herein. Some of the multi-function machines provide the ability to scan an image and transmit the scanned image to a local or network attached computer.
Current typical scan application software is meant to support only a single scan operation at any point in time. Such scan application software is typically designed for communication only with a single local scanner 10 attached via a USB connection 11 to a computer 12 (see FIG. 1).
When a scan to host operation is requested from the scanner 10, a request to scan along with parameter information (such as resolution) is sent to the monitoring software 13 via the communication layer 14. Software 15 on the Personal Computer (PC) processes the scan request and initiates the scan (see FIG. 2).
Networks and higher-end workstations permit a PC to connect to multiple devices at the same time. In an environment such as a small business, a centralized PC 30 is often times set up and connected to multiple peripheral devices. Local scanners 31 and 32 are connected through USB connections 33 and 34, respectively, to PC 30 and network attached scanners 33, 34, and 35 and connected to network adapters 38, 39, and 40, respectively that are in turn connected via an Ethernet connection 41 to PC 30. (See FIG. 3). In this environment simultaneous scan requests can occur. For example, suppose user A starts a scan from scanner 35 to a PC 30, and then user B starts a scan from scanner 32 to the PC 30. Since user A is already in the process of scanning to the PC 30, the scanning application software installed on PC 30 will not process the scan request from user B.
It is important to note that the PC and communication layer can communicate with multiple scanners simultaneously; however, the scan application software does not allow for unique processing.
What is needed in the art is an image processing system and method which can receive and process simultaneous multiple scan requests.